Fret not!

Concerns on quality regarding XM's recent releases

At the time of this post, XM's most recent shipped product is Darth Maul where we have received several cases of product breakage issues. This has also raised concerns over other recent released products including Storm, Scorpion, Moonknight and Weapon X.

To better understand the exact nature of the situation, an investigation has been conducted where the customer service team, warehouse and QC logs were reviewed. Below are the findings for every product mentioned above.

Darth Maul

At the time of this posting, we have received 18 cases of product support requests. At 7% defects to ES ratio (ES of 270), this is an alarming number by XM standards. The most common issue (almost all) reported is the breakage of lower flap of the robe on the back of the statue (see image below). 3 cases included minor chips/cracks on the bases (the speeder bike) hence the key issue is the robe.

The original designed package had the flap as a separate detachable piece but was simplified to be pre-attached to the main body towards the end of the packaging phase. During packaging drop tests, the back flap remained intact despite extensive handling til the extent of the black box being dented - and that black box is pretty tough. As such the packaging team is bewildered that despite the tests, it appears that the flap is still vulnerable.

We have since reinforced the packaging by opening up every box and adding extra cushion and protection to the flap area so this should greatly minimize breakages.

To collectors who have received this piece with a broke flap, we are offering a full refund* (including shipping) for any collectors who bought directly from XM's online or retail shop. Please submit a ticket at https://www.xm-studios.com/content/support.aspx. For collectors who have purchased from resellers, please get in touch with them asap as we will be working with them closely to offer the best resolutions possible.

*Darth Maul Refund Terms and Conditions

To be eligible for refund, Collectors must destroy the piece on hand and provide photo proof.

As Darth Maul is a very limited run, we are only able to provide a full refund option instead of replacements.

Period of this resolution is till 31st May 2019.

Storm

At the time of this posting, we have received 15 cases of product support requests. At 3.5% defects to ES ratio (ES of 420), this is within practical standards (XM's benchmark is to keep product issues below 5%). The product issues are mainly around the breakage of hair labelled parts 17 and 10 (see below). More breakages on part 17 are observed.

Storm's hair sculpt is the most complicated of all our statues and we have noted that it is worth considering using PU/PVC for complicated hair sculpts to minimise breakages (We try to keep as many parts resin as possible). We also noted that we failed to announced in advance that we were adding small metal links to connect the cape to the arms. In our original design, we had planned to produce the capes to connect to the hands but realized that it is not possible due to the natural matetrial shrinkage variations for cape and hands. We had felt that adding the links would be the best solution to keep the capes 'linked' to the hands for accuracy but had ommitted in posting and announcing this to collectors before hand because our internal marketing and production team were not synched up. This is an oversight on our communications which we admit requires many improvements. There is also a seam on the base of the whirlwind (2 collectors feedback) due to one extra 'swirl' on the whirlwind. There were options including removal of the extra swirl or make it into 1 piece without seam (which did not pass drop tests) but as we felt that having that extra piece created a better overall composition, we decided to keep it despite having a small seam.

Scorpion

At the time of this posting, we have received 12 cases of product support requests. At 4% defects to ES ratio (ES of 300), this is within practical standards (XM's benchmark is to keep product issues below 5%). Contrary to social media impressions the key issues being Scorpion's feet being too 'tight' to fit into the base (only 2 cases reported), and broken fence on the base (3 cases), the majority issues are broken tails.

The tail has been produced with 3 separate metal rods for reinforcements and it is observed that the breakage occurs at the parts without the metal rods. The reason why we chose 3 separate pieces instead of a single long rod is because of the curvature of the tail is extreme. It is too 'curved' to hold a single metal rod which would have potentially caused more problems. Rather than the issue being with the tail itself, we believe the packaging and drop tests need to be improve further to reduce breakage numbers. For collectors who have issues, please submit a ticket at https://www.xm-studios.com/content/support.aspx or contact your reseller for support.

Moon Knight

At the time of this posting, we have received 8 cases of product support requests. At 3% defects to ES ratio (ES of 270), this is within practical standards (XM's benchmark is to keep product issues below 5%). Contrary to social media impressions the key issues being Moon Knight's cape having gaps (which is addressed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WSEsbgNeVg&t=14s), the majority issues are chips on the cape with 2 cases of paint finish issues (see below).

Weapon X

At the time of this posting, we have received 19 cases of product support requests. At 2.4% defects to ES ratio (ES of 800), this is within practical standards (XM's benchmark is to keep product issues below 5%). Majority of the issues reported were broken glass on the base (see below).

We've since learnt that for small pieces like these, it is best to keep it separate rather than fixed, as much as we want to believe we have a bullet proof box. Other notable issues faced are leaning (3 cases), small gaps at the chest area from switch out portraits (2 cases) and broken pieces from the base elements such as computers screens etc (4 cases total), paint chips on helmeted portraits (5 cases) and loose metal claws (2 cases).

Summary

We have built the XM reputation on quality pride but have to admit we are far from perfect. While Storm, Moon Knight and Scorpion's defects ratio are within our expected bencmark, the Darth Maul piece has (for the first time) failed our internal standards.

Product

ES

Defect Ratio (Cases Reported)

Storm

420

3.5%

Moon Knight

270

3%

Weapon X

800

2.4%

Scorpion

300

4%

Darth Maul

270

7%

*5% Max is the practical Defect Ratio acceptable by XM.

We will do what we can to ensure customers who face issues with Darth Maul are well taken care of. This is a wake up call for the management to relook into the quality and engineering process. Whether due to growing pains such as internal change of packaging suppliers , factories or QC staff turnover, it is ultimately XM's accountability and promise to uphold the quality of our products. We are putting in place a new and improved structured process for QC that can mitigate the faced growing pains. We will be more than happy to share the new process once the details are final.

It is also interesting to observe that social media plays an incredibly important role, and that it can portray a situation much more drastic than it actually seems. Negative news spread fast and far, and in some cases can create an elevated impression which is why we wanted to look at actual numbers in our CS team and present these findings to customers. Still, there is no smoke without fire and for us to remain relevant and put customers' interests first, we must always remain open and provide a listening channel to our supportive customers.

Once again, our sincerest thanks to everyone for helping us know where we need to improve and pointing us the direction to head towards. Happy Collecting!